The joy in my heart once I hear that final bell ring cannot be overstated enough. That run-in with Havana been eating away at me for the last two hours. I leave class quickly so I can meet up with her in the library. I push through the hoards of students in speed demon mode (word to Michael Jackson) until I see the doors to the library, but before I push through them, I halt. Crapola, I forgot to wait for Mallory! Argh, but by the time I turn back around right now, I'll be wasting time; I figure the quicker we tutor, the quicker Havana will be able to make this "rapid-fire" meeting of hers. Who am I to hold her back, right? ... Ah, screw it. I turn back around to meet Mal, losing the wind in my sails little by little. I think I'm starting to see her hair bouncing! Almost there and --

Yoink! What the hell?! I'm pulled totally out of view into another hallway! 

"Hey, what gives?" I turn around, pissed. To my shock, instead of the one Setiawan I was in search of, I'm standing in front of the other Setiawan I'm never in search of. Who's usually never in search of me, either ...

"You," Jhene points me down with her freshly done acrylics. 

"Aha, hello there," I wave awkwardly.

"It's come to my attention that I'm supposed to be helping you and the brat to this UnDoSieTech show," Jhene says, folding her arms. Oh my God, the show ... it's in a few weeks! I forgot about it with everything going on recently, but then again, Mal hasn't spoken much about it to me lately. Is it because of everything happening or did she forget too? Ah, but then the second option is a less likely possibility...

"So, I'm guessing Mal talked to you about it," I respond.

"Yeah, she did," Jhene says matter-of-factly. "I'm pissed off about it, too."

"What for?" I stare past her head so I don't look directly into her eyes in case she starts shooting venom out of them. "It's not like you have to actually go to the show with us."

"Why on Earth would I help you two pay for the show and not go to it myself?" Jhene retorts. 

"Wait, what?" I shake my head. "I've been saving up my own lunch money for the show. I don't need your help with anything."

"Hello? Transportation? Food? Hotel?" 

"Mal says you guys had family in Chicago to stay with."

"And you think they're cheap?" Jhene debates. "Look, as it is, with the money I was able to save up from my summer job, and given Mallory's lazy ass has never had one --"

"Watch it," I cut in.

"Oh, please," Jhene rolls her eyes. "Anyway, I can't afford to look after the two of you and not get anything in return. And that Usop boy ... whew, talk about foine."

"Hold up," I glare slightly once I piece together what she's talking about. "You want to take my place at the show?"

"Don't think of it like that," Jhene smiles evilly. "Think of it as "sister bonding time". Wouldn't you say the two of us need it?"

"That's bullshit." I shoot back, now pissed to the nth degree. "You don't even listen to UnDoSieTech like that!"

"So?" Jhene clicks her tongue. "My money, my car, my way."

"It's not fair!"

"Look, hun, I'll compensate you if you're so desperate." Jhene lifts up a finger. "With one catch."

"You're majorly kidding, right?" I can't believe what I'm even hearing right now. "First, you're telling me I can't come to the concert with my best friend, and you're still asking me for a favor?!"

"Be so serious," Jhene speaks down to me. "How were even going to explain this away to your mom? Unless, somehow you already told her?" The smirk on her face rivals the sourness of an umeboshi plum, full of cockiness too knowing she's got me cornered. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to bring it up to Mom; she would've shut me down faster than our car.

"Well, what does Mal think of all this?" I ask her.

"That's just the thing, isn't it?" Jhene asks me back. "She doesn't know about this."

"Shocker," I mumble. "She's gonna be pissed once she finds out."

"Not if you tell her your mom won't let you go, right?" Jhene suggests. Oh, she's wicked. "I don't much feel like dealing with her whining to me how I ripped away such an opportunity or whatever, so ..."

"Why are you doing this to me?" I inquire. "To Mal?"

"You'll get over it," Jhene tells me. "It's not like they'll never tour again." She pats my shoulder, as if she did me a favor. "Thanks for understanding, hun." And with that, she flips her hair, dark as her soul, and struts away. All I can do is stand here in disbelief. Again, there's been so much going on that I forgot about the show in general, but that doesn't mean I wanted to miss out on it. I'm trembling so bad and I can't see straight. I turn back around in the main hall, and that's when I see Mallory closing her locker and heading out for the bus. There's a lump in my throat the size of a tennis ball. I tilt my head back ever-so-slightly so I can still see where I'm going as I hold back my tears. Why should I have to be the one to not only get my dreams shattered but to break the news to the one person I want to experience them with? 

I open the doors to the library, slumping my head back and letting a single tear fall down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away in case Mr. Strutter asks, but when I look over, he isn't at the desk. He must be doing some restocking or something. I sniffle a bit, then shake my head and pat down my face. There's no way I'm facing Havana like this; I fear I've become more than emotional around her than I've ever wanted to be. I walk over to the Purgatory Room, taking a deep breath before I open the door. To my surprise, I see no one sitting there. I check my watch to make sure I'm not late, given that conversation with Jhene felt like it went on for a million years, but it's only 4:10. So where ...?

"Oh, Ms. Agyapong!" Mrs. Loren greets me from the back room, albeit looking a bit more stressed out than usual. 

"Hi, Mrs. Loren," I greet back. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Mrs. Loren exasperates. "Just been doing some overhaul of these new books the 10th graders are receiving. I would've gotten Law to do it but he's out of town for a conference the rest of the week." Oh, that's why Mr. Strutter wasn't at the desk ("Law" being short for Lawrence). 

"Actually, Havana was just in here helping me for a bit," she goes on. So she was in here, then. Was?

"That doesn't surprise me," I respond. "Is she still back there with you?"

"No, s-she wanted me to pass on a message," Mrs. Loren says as she opens the fridge, pulling out a water. She takes a few quick gulps, a crisp "ah!" following. "She wanted me to tell you that she waited, but had to stop by the decathlon room for a bit and that she'll be right back."

"Did she?" I nod slowly. Well, so much for commitments, huh? I mean, I did come in here with the intention of getting this done fast so she could go, but I didn't think she'd already headed out. 

"If you want, you can wait here for her," Mrs. Loren smiles. "I'm going to take a quick break before I throw my back out, so you won't have to hear me grunting!" I get a slight chuckle from that.

"T-that's okay, Mrs. Loren," I tell her. I would wait, but I honestly need to take a walk to clear my head. "I'll find her. I'll see you later."

"Alrighty then, bye bye!" Mrs. Loren waves me out before taking a seat to catch her breath. I close the door and sigh. This might just be a blessing in disguise, for I'm feeling much too deflated to even think about anything trig related. I make my way out the library, where school life in the rotunda is still somewhat alive. When I look out the windows to the courtyard, there's a bit of students out there, but I don't even care right now. I would be out of it if in my peripheral, I didn't see a figure running towards me.

"Zo!" Havana calls out to me, her braids hopping wildly around her. She stops right before me, hands on her knees and gasping hard. She whips her head back up to me, getting me square in the jaw. 

"Oh shit!" Havana gasps. "You okay?!"

"Uh, yeah," I semi-lie; I mean it hurt, hence why I'm holding my somewhat throbbing jaw. "I didn't know you were capable of swearing."

"Wait, huh?" Havana chuckles. "My bad on that. You sure you're okay?" She reaches for my face and checks out my face. I'm a little frozen in place; seriously, I don't expect her to just do these things! Maybe it's athlete protocol or whatever.  

"I-I'm fine," I pull away from her, flustered. 

"Ack, sorry," Havana apologizes. "Just wanted to be sure. And hey, I'm sorry for stepping out, I just wanted to check in on the team real quick.”

“Right,” I acknowledge. Look at her, being so concerned for her team, and still rushing back to me for our tutoring. Tutoring I don’t even feel like doing anymore. If I already wasn’t feeling like the world’s biggest loser, I surely do now. “Uh, so …”

“Yeah?” Havana looks at me wide-eyed. My God, she’s like a freaking golden retriever. 

“So, that meeting of yours …” I rub my arm up and down. “W-we can go. Or you can go.”

“Huh?” 

I sigh. “I felt bad about keeping you for no reason and whatnot so I wanted you to go ahead and be with your team.”

“Wait, no!” Havana waves her hands. “Why feel bad? Don’t feel bad — I want to be here with you — for you! For you, yeah.”

“Well, I don’t much feel like doing any work, right now,” I shrug. “So, you can go. Swear.”

“Zo …” Havana looks at me concerned. “Well, are you coming with me at least?”

“You’re saying I’d still be allowed to go?”

“Duh, silly!” Havana smiles widely. “Why wouldn’t you?” 

“I …” Well, I guess I don’t have an answer, given she did invite me in the first place. And so excitedly at that … I don’t think I have much choice, do I?

“Fine, yeah.”

“Oh, rad! Come on!” Havana starts running back the other way. “They’re about to start rapid-fire liner equations!”

Oh, joy.

—————————

When we get to the room, the decathlon team seems less than shocked that Havana returned, but then there’s me. They all stare me down like it’s been 84 years, but not for long as they go right back to quizzing each other — and fast. Ah, so this is what a rapid-fire meeting entails. Havana hops right back in with them without missing a beat. She mouths to me that I can take a seat, which I do gladly.

Math nerds are math nerds but with an addition — Yasmin Sanchez. She’s rapid-firing questions and answers like no tomorrow, and it all makes sense! Of course, Yasmin is a part of the math decathlon team, but the funny thing is that this is the most I’ve ever seen her talk. She’s very in her element the way I viewed Havana for the first time in one of these meetings. They shoot off questions to each other for 10 minutes straight, then break at 4:30 on the dot.

“Nice work, y’all,” Stewart cheers. “Yaz, nice to see you haven’t lost your groove.”

“Thanks,” Yasmin says. 

“Do you think we’ll be ready for next week?” Marnie asks. 

“Almost,” Havana answers. “We should sharpen up on some calculus then meet up again on Tuesday.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Stewart agrees, the others nodding along in confirmation. He then turns his attention to me. “And will you be joining us?”

“M-me?” I point at myself. “For what?”

“We’re having a mock competition with Spirit High,” Stewart explains, with Havana waving her hand over her neck. He doesn’t seem to notice, but I sure do … what am I supposed to not know? “We’re going to ride together after school on Thursday. Might do us good to have an audience.”

“Stu!” Havana snips. 

“Oh, my bad,” Stewart puts his hand on his chest in dramatic fashion. Okay, seriously? K.D. taps Stewart’s shoulder and points to the door. “Ah, look like my pal here needs to be on his way. This was funnnn!”

“Oh yes!” Marnie claps, hugging Yasmin. “I’m so happy you came!” 

“Right,” Yasmin hugs back, as smiley as the Sun. Wow, what a change. Everyone exchanges their goodbyes, myself included, but I stay behind to wait with Havana to see when we should meet next. I see Yasmin also stayed behind, too. This feels sort of like cosmic intervention; now I can ask her what I need to! Looks like she and Havana are talking about something important, so I hold off for a bit. Then, Havana turns to me.

"Hey, did you still want to get some work in? Yasmin doesn't mind waiting on us," she asks.

"Waiting...?" I trail. Oh, wait! "Uh, that's okay; what are you, her ride or something?"

"Unfortunately," Yasmin gets in, prompting a playful smack on the arm from Havana. 

"You'll live," Havana jests, sending a pang through my chest. I wonder who picked it up off who first. They start a quick back-and-forth in Spanish, which I wasn't aware either of them spoke, then look back at me. I flinch a little .. both have this similar, uncanny cadence about them.

"Excuse my darling cousin here," Havana says. My eyes grow so wide I'm convinced they look like saucers.

"Cousin?" I look back and forth between them. "You two are cousins?" 

"You didn't know?" Havana cocks her head.

"It's not exactly common knowledge, dork," Yasmin shakes her head. I snort a little. Yasmin Sanchez, apparent cousin, calling Havana Sommers a dork. There's something oddly hilarious about it.

"Oh, sorry," Havana stretches out sarcastically. 

"To answer your original question," I go on, "It's really okay. I'm kind of tired, actually."

"Oh, no problem!" Havana nods. "Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow. Get home safe, yeah?"

"Bye, Zora," Yasmin waves in her regular monotone. Now, normally I would wait until my mom or the Setiawan sisters come to get me, but I really don't feel much like waiting. I just want to be in my bed, letting the weight of the world sink into my mattress. 

"Hey!" I call out to Havana and Yasmin, the cousins. Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to. "Could I hitch a ride with you?"

Havana blinks rapidly, then smiles. "I never thought I'd see the day! Come, come!" 

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she'd been waiting on this. Just another thing to tick off our new "friend" list, I guess.